


Holding Hands

by Persiflage



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, Holding Hands, Inhumans (Marvel), Minor Character Death, Older Man/Younger Woman, POV Phil Coulson, Phil Coulson's Prosthetic Hand, Romance, Skye | Daisy Johnson's Superpowers, Watchdogs (Marvel), background Mack/Elena
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 12:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9607151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Phil and Daisy share an obsession with each other's hands.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zauberer_sirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauberer_sirin/gifts).



> *I* have an obsession with Daisy and Phil's hands, never mind the actual characters having such an obsession, and it spilled over into fic.

It's a toss up, really, who is most obsessed with the other's hands. Coulson loves Daisy's hands because they're immensely strong, and she can use her powers with her hands to tear continents apart, yet they're gentle more often than not. She will use her hands (with or without her powers) to give him a massage, or to make him a grilled cheese sandwich (he taught her his secret recipe some time ago) when he's tired from the endless meetings in Washington, and, of course, she'll lace her fingers through his and sit holding his hand while they watch a movie.

He knows Daisy loves the contrast between his flesh-and-blood hand, and the prosthetic – these days no one can tell at a glance that the left one's a prosthetic, and he himself frequently just forgets because the robot hand's that sophisticated that he can 'feel' things with it in the same way he can with his real hand. But Daisy can feel the difference in his vibrations between the prosthetic and the real one, and the replacement hand gives her a different kind of 'buzz' to the right one. 

Coulson can still recall the first time she ever deliberately touched his prosthetic hand, that day when he forced her to lay bare all her terrible memories of her interactions with Ward, and it still hurts him when he thinks about it (though he tries not to think about it too often) to remember that he rejected that touch. He never would now, of course: it always, still, gives him a thrill when she grabs his left hand – whether it's to offer him comfort, to pull him to safety, or to encourage him to touch her intimately. 

And the fact that his left hand's loaded with useful tech never hurts, either.

"Shield!" she yells at him, and he activates the hologram shield in his wrist, and moves to her side to help her hold off the bullets that are being fired at them while Mack, Elena, and Joey work on getting the Inhumans to safety behind them. She's using both hands, independently but simultaneously, to 'fire' her powers at their attackers in order to hold them off from overrunning their position.

She nudges his shoulder with hers and yells, over the continuing noise of gunfire, "Laser! SUV!"

He doesn't waste time responding verbally, just activates the laser in his hand and takes out the SUV that's roaring down the street towards them, blowing up its engine with his laser.

He's vaguely aware of seeing her, in his peripheral vision, glance behind them – almost certainly checking to see that the rest of her team have got the Inhumans to safety. Then she uses her right hand to make a sweeping gesture across the street, even as her left hand grabs his upper arm and pulls him in close.

"Going up!" she yells, and he wraps his arms around her as she fires her powers at the ground, and they shoot upwards, fast and hard, leaving Coulson quite breathless – this is not something Daisy's done very often because it uses up far more of her energy, especially if she's lifting him as well as herself, and it still gives him a huge rush of adrenaline, even when she warns him.

They land atop a building, both of them instinctively bending their knees, not only to make their landing easier, but to bring their bodies lower in case there are snipers on any of the surrounding rooftops.

She taps her earpiece and checks in with Elena and the others, then she turns to Coulson, giving him a tired yet satisfied grin.

"You okay?" she asks, and he nods, then asks, "Are you?"

"For the minute." 

He nods again, then taps at his wrist, signalling to the Zephyr1 that they're ready for a pickup – his signal sends their coordinates, and also indicates that they're uninjured, so the pilot will know to pick up Elena and the others before coming for them.

He looks up and sees Daisy's lying on the ground and he has a moment of blind panic, thinking that she's collapsed, until he realises that she's actually looking down into the street at their attackers using the enhanced goggles which were specially designed for her by their tech team. (He thinks, for a moment, of the former science team – Leo Fitz languishes in the new version of the Fridge after his involvement with the late Dr Radcliffe's LMD program. The young man had been out of control, in the end, both in helping Radcliffe to build the original LMD which the latter had named Aida, and in his refusal to accept that he'd been wrong to give Radcliffe the old LMD program in the first place. Jemma Simmons, sadly, is dead at the hands of one of the other LMDs that Radcliffe and Aida had built.)

"The cops and FBI are here," she tells Coulson as he crouches beside her. "So we can go with a clear conscience."

"Good," Coulson says emphatically. 

Just then the Z1 flies in overhead and the hatch opens that usually accepts the containment pods. They both get to their feet.

"Let's go," Daisy says, and grabs his hand, then uses her powers to send them the distance of 100 feet or so that is between the rooftop and the Z1. She stumbles and nearly goes to her knees as they land inside the Z1, and Coulson wraps his arm around her to keep her upright.

"Okay, you need to eat and rest," he tells her.

She mumbles an agreement – a sure sign that she's more exhausted than she initially let on – and he nods at Mack as he guides Daisy through the plane to the Director's cabin. He gets her to sit down on the couch, then removes her gauntlets and boots, and she stretches out without comment, wordlessly squeezing his wrist by way of thanks.

"I'll get you some food," he tells her, and she gives him a grateful smile.

"I may be asleep before you return," she tells him, and he nods.

"That's okay. If you need the sleep more than the food, you should definitely sleep."

"Mmhmm."

Her eyes are already closed, and he leans down to press a kiss to her brow, then goes out, heading down to the galley to sort out a meal. As he works he resolves to ask the Director to give them a few days off – he's not sure whether to suggest they head to the Retreat, which has become their go-to destination for R&R, or whether to suggest they head somewhere hot and sunny. He'll ask Daisy which she prefers.

He takes the laden tray back up to the Director's cabin, setting it on the table, then he pulls off his shoes and sheds his coat, before he stretches out at Daisy's back on the couch, slipping his arms around her torso to hold her close. The couch is barely wide enough for both of them, even though they're both lying on their side, but he doesn't feel like waking Daisy to relocate to the sleeping quarters. He presses a kiss to the back of her neck, then closes his eyes and lets himself slide towards sleep. He might not have Daisy's powers to wear him out, but the truth is that he's not a young man any more, and their mission has left him tired too.

He feels Daisy's fingers lace with his, and smiles at the thought that even in her sleep, she wants to hold his hand.


End file.
